Mahindra Finance is expected to enter the online insurance broking market by providing digital services to the customers of its insurance brokerage subsidiary, Mahindra Insurance Brokers, through a new platform called PayBima, which will be launched soon.
The move comes at a time when, amid the current coronavirus pandemic, demand for health and life-related insurance products is high due to increased interest among individuals and companies to be protected against medical and business risks.
The new platform will play a role, according to a senior company executive, in transforming Mahindra’s insurance broking services into a “phygital” model that would leverage its feet-on-the-street agents with digital aggregation and settlement services at more than 400 locations across the country.
Insurance is not about selling policies as much as it is about honouring claims, MD at Mahindra Insurance Brokers, Jaideep Devare, said. Settling the allegations would be a vital part of our portal operations. We will also provide our customers with the options to compare and purchase various plans through our collaboration with leading public and private insurers, while the platform would also provide advanced assistance in the registration and settlement of claims, he said.
The decision to launch the platform would place it in direct competition against leading digital aggregators and brokers like Policybazaar, Coverfox, Paytm, and the conventional insurance and reinsurance players like Marsh and Anand Rathi.
The insurance broker, set up in 2004, focuses on rural areas, concentrating on motor and tractor insurance products through a cross-selling arrangement with Mahindra’s vehicle dealerships across India. The company now aggressively builds its portfolios of fitness, life, two-wheeler, and four-wheeler. It also aims to broaden its reach among urban clients through the new digital portal, Devare said.
According to Devare, the company will make use of all the advanced technology such as artificial intelligence, sentimental and voice analysis, and machine learning to deliver our product and service fleet on the PayBima portal. The insurance broker, an 80 per cent subsidiary of Mahindra Financial Services, served 3.5 lakh claims and collected premiums worth Rs 2,400 crore in FY20, the Company’s business.
It has now set an ambitious goal of attracting one million new customers to the new network over the next three years, which is scheduled to go live this month.
